Nov 6 Early Voter Turnout Surges, Republicans Hold Lead

As voters prepare to head to the polls and the number of Americans casting early ballots surges, election analysts will likely focus on one question: Will the Democratic "blue wave" be powerful enough to reverse the early leads wracked up by Republicans in seven out of eight key battleground states?

So far, enthusiasm levels among both Democrats and Republicans have climbed to historic levels, complicating the efforts of forecasters and throwing the forecasting orthodoxy - the notion that Republicans will pick up Senate seats while Democrats wrest back control of the House - into doubt with the polls set to open across the US in 24 hours.

According to Bloomberg, some 34 million people have already voted in the 2018 midterms, and, in at least 28 states and the District of Columbia, early voter tallies have already surpassed their totals from the 2014 midterms.